Hot top



Feb. 27, 1934.

W. M. CHARMAN ET AL HOT TOP Filed Feb. l5, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l WALTERN CHARMAN. 641s m v5 A. PfrfRso/v. 7am MzwvC/J j W. M. CHARMAN ET AL HOTTOP Filed Feb. 15, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS.

E UST/IVE ETER 0N.

Patented Feb. 27, 1934 HOT TOP Walter M. Chaman and Gustave A. Peterson,Cleveland Heights, hio; said Peterson assigner to The Ferro EngineeringCompany, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation o! Ohio Applause@ ret laisse.serial Nassassc lill f "1? invention pertains to hot tops for ot molds,relating particularly to means for iacili toting the assembly into thecasing of the semipermanent upper` g elements, and a means :tortemporarily attaching the lower l elenient or bottom ring.

@ne oi the objects oi the invention is the pro vision of meanspermitting the assembly into a casing with an upwardly tapered innersurface, oi l@ correspondingly tapered lining blocks which may beinserted into the casing from above, the blocks having beveledinter-engaging surfaces, and the casing having a recess formed therein,wide q enough to receive one of the blocks, and located 3U slightly tothe rear of the final position oi the block, so that the last block oi acourse may be introduced through the recess and then pushed inwardlyinto engagement with the blocks on either side thereof, whereby all ofthe blocks oi. the course are locked in place in the casing.

Another object oi the invention'is the provi'a lsion. oi suitable meansfor filling up the said recess after the blocks are all in place.

A further object is the provision of means tor firmly securing in placethe bottom ring oi the hot top, which means shall be susceptible ofQuick and easy installation.

@ther objects and features ci novelty will ap= pear as we proceed withthe description oi that to i yent of the invention which, for the pureposes of the present application we have lllustrat ed in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a bottom plan view of a hottop einB boa-.lying the invention,A with the bottom ring removed.

Fig. 2 is a vertical diametric'al section oi the same, takensubstantially on the line 2-2 ofl Fig. i and showing the bottom ring inposition.

Fig. 3 is a i'ragmental top plan view of the caslng alone.

Fig. 4 is a similar View with the lining blocks in position.

Figs. 5 and 6 are inside elevational and top 45 pl views, respectively,of one of the semi-permanent lining blocks of the lower course.

Figs. 'I and 8 are similar views of one oi the blocks of the uppercourse. A

Figs. 9 and 10 are side and edge elevational 5o views, respectively, ofa wedge used for lling up the recess formed in the casing behind the key"block of the lower course.

Figs. l1 and 12 are similar views oi the wedge block for the uppercourse, and

Fig. 13 is a perspective view oi one ol the spring (CB. 22u14?) wireclips for securing the bottom r oi the hot top to the casing.

The casing 10 of the hot top is preferably a casting, made in a singlepiece. It may be provided with trunnions l1 for easy handling, and hasan inwardly extending ledge l2 at its lower end running entirely aroundthe casing. As shown in the drawings, this ledge is circular and ispreferably provided with a rabbet 13 along its lower outer surface, inorder that a wiper strip le may be set therein ilush with the lowersurface oi the ledge.

The inner suriace oi the casing is provided with a series oi hats,twelve oi them being shown in the present instance. These ats areinclined inwardly toward the top, as clearly shown at the right handside of Fig. 2, and their edges are likewise inclined toward each othertoward the top oi the casing. Obviously a curved wall could besubstituted for the polygonal wall herein disclosed, the outer surfacesof the lining blocks being then correspondingly curved.

The inner surface oi the casing, as a whole, is therefore taperedupwardly. There is, however, one-exception to this general conformationand that is, that a recess 15 is formed at one point of the innersurface, extending from the top of the casing down to the ledge 12, thisrecess being as wide or a triile wider than the width of the flats attheir lowest and widest points.

lin order to keep the recess 15 as small as possible, and thereby todepartl as little as possible from the thickness of thesbalance of thecasing wall, we form the outer surface of the recess vertical, asillustrated at the left hand side of Fig..2, whereby the recess has awedge shape.

In order that the semi-permanent lining of the hot top above the ledge12 may be positively locked in place, the several lining blocks which goto make up this part of the lining are formed on their rear or outersurfaces to t more or less precisely the flats heretofore mentioned.This gives them an upward taper in so far as their side edges areconcerned. The latter edges are also4 beveled off along planesextending'through the axis of the hot top.' As a. consequence, theselateral edges present interengaging surfaces which, when all of theblocks of a course are in position, serve to lock them securely inplace. The lining above the ledge l2 may be made in a single course, ifdesired, but we prefer, for practical reasons, to form it in twocourses, the blocks 16 of the lower course being all alike when the hottop is designed for use with a. mold which approaches the circular form,as does that with-which the hot top illustrated herein is to be used.The upper course is made up of a series of identical blocks 17 which,however, are somewhat smaller than the blocks 16.

The last block of the lower course to be put into position is loweredinto the recess 15. This block is herein called the key block merely todiieren-l tiate it from the other blocks of the course with which it isidentical in form and size. The other blocks of the course are held inplace in the meantime by the workmen. Inasmuch as the recess is at leastas wide as the widest part of the key block, that is the rear lower edgethereof, no diiiculty will be encountered in getting the block into therecess and lowering it into the same until its lower edge rests on theledge 12. It is then necessary merely to push it inward far enough toengage the edges of .the blocks adjacent thereto on either side. Where awedgeshaped recess is employed, as in the case illustrated, this is doneby rocking the upper end of the block inwardly. Thereafter a illlerplate or wedge 18 is lowered into the recess behind thel key block, inorder to hold the same in interengaging relation with the blocks oneither side thereof, whereby all of the blocks of the course are lockedin place.

The wedge 18 is preferably made of metal, although other refractorymaterials could be employed if desired. Furthermore, the means forfilling the recess after the key block is in position need notnecessarily be a preformed filler, as loose or plastic material can bepacked into the recess if desired. e A

After the lower course of the lining is completely assembled, the blocks17 of the upper course are inserted, one at a time, until all but thekey block is in place, after which that block is lowered into the recessand pushed inwardly, as in the case of the lower course, and then a llerplate or wedge 19 is mounted in position in the recess behind the keyblock. The hot top is then ready for use, except for the parts whichmust be replaced after every heat.

The temporary parts just referred to include the wiper strip 14,previously mentioned, which may be made in one or a plurality of pieces,and also a lining for the inner and bottom sides of the ledge 12. Thislatter lining is preferably made in one piece, called the bottom ring.Such a ring is shown at 20 in Fig. 2. This ring is formed at intervalsalong the inner walls thereof with bosses 21, having sockets 22 thereinpresenting horizontal shoulders that are ad apted to be engaged byshouldered grips 23 on spring wire clips 24. Each of these clips has anouter vvertical portion 25 which may be bowed inwardly slightly, andwhich ends in an angular extremity 26 that is adapted to fit into a hole29 drilled in the outer wall of the casing 10 just a short distanceabovev the lower end thereof-- The horizontal portion of clip 24 lisalso bowed upwardly, as indicated at 27. The inner extremity beyond thegrip 23 is bent up at an angle and theny provided with a return bend toform cam fingers 28.

When the ring 20 is to be assembled upon the hot top the latter isgenerallyk turned up side down, the ring put in position, and the clipsattached one at a time. The workman rst inserts the angular end portion26 of the clip into one of the holes 29 in the casing, aA slot beingprovided in the wiper strip 14 to receive the vertical portion 25 of theclip. At this time the cam fingers 28 will rest against the lower faceof the ring 20. The workman then presses inwardly upon the verticalportion 25 of the clip and at the same time exerts pressure tostraighten out the bowed horizontal portion 27 of the clip. The fingers28 are thereby pushed toward the inner wall of the ring and cammed overthe corner thereof and snapped into the socket 22. When the other clipshave been set in position in the same way, the attachment of the bottomring to the lcasing will be found to be very secure indeed.

It will be appreciated that the bosses 21 and notches 22 might, ofcourse, be applied to the outer or to the lower surface instead of tothe inner surface of the ring 20, but we much prefer to carry the cliparound to the inner surface, as illustrated in the drawings. When thehot top is in use the molten metal weakens or destroys these clips, sothat when the hot top is stripped from the ingot the ring 20 is leftbehind.

In the foregoing description we have necessarily gone somewhat intodetail in order to explain fully the particular embodiments of theinvention herein illustrated, but we desire it to be understood thatsuch detailed disclosures are not to be construed as amounting tolimitations, except as they may be included in the appended claims. YHaving thus described our invention, We claim:

1. In a hot top, a metal casing tapered upwardly and adapted to receiveupwardly tapered lining blocks, said casing comprising means forsupporting said blocks and having in itsv inner wall a recess of a sizesufficient to receive one of said blocks somewhat behind the finalposition of the block, and means adapted to be inserted into said recessbehind the block to crowd the latter forward into position, whereby allof the lining blocks are locked in place.

2. In a hot top, a metal casing having upwardly tapered inner walls,lining blocks adapted to fit the said walls, and having interengagingedges, means for supporting said blocks, said casing having in its innerwall a recess of a size suicient to receive a key block somewhat behindthe final position of the latter, said key block and the next adjacentblock on each side thereof having intertting beveled edges, and meansadapted to be inserted into said recess behind said key block to crowdthe latter forward into inal position, whereby all of the lining blocksare lockedvin place.

3. In a hot top, a metal casing having upwardly tapered inner walls,upwardly tapered lining blocks adapted to fit the inner walls of saidcasing, means for supporting said blocks, said blocks having beveledcontacting edges, said casing having in its inner wall a recess of asize s'uilci'ent to receive one of said lining blocksl somewhat behindthe nal position of the latter, and means-adapted to be inserted intosaid recess behind said last named mock to crowd the latter forward intofinal position, whereby all of the lining blocks are locked in place.

4. In a hot top, a metal casing having upwardly tapered inner walls andan inwardly directed ledge "at its lower end, upwardly tapered lining14C blocks formed to t said inner walls and supported upon said ledge,said blocks h'aving beveled contacting edges, said casing having in itsinner wall a recess with a vertical outer surface, said recess being ofsufficient size to receive one of lsaid lining blocks somewhat behindthe nal position of the latter, and a wedge-shaped filler plate adaptedto be inserted into said recess with its thin end down, whereby the lastnamed lining block is held forward in position to lock all of saidlining blocks against movement.

5. In a hot top, a metal casing having upwardly tapered inner walls, acourse of upwardly tapered lining blocks formed to fit the said innerwalls and supported upon the casing, an upper course of upwardly taperedlining blocks formed to i'lt said inner walls above said rst namedlining course, said last namedblocks having beveled contacting edges,saidvcasing having in its inner wall a recess of a size sufficient toreceive one of said last named lining blocks somewhat behind the iinalposition of the latter, and means adapted to be inserted into saidrecess behind said last named block to crowd the latter forward intofinal position, whereby al1 of the lining blocks of said upper courseare locked in place.

6. In a hot top, a metal casing having upwardly tapered inner walls andan inwardly directed ledge at its lower end, two courses of upwardlytapered lining blocks formed to t the said inner walls, the lower ofsaid courses being supported upon said ledge and the upper course beingsupported upon the lower course, said casing having in its inner wall arecess extending down to said ledge, said recess being of a sizesufllcient to receive one of said lower course lining blocks, wherebythe latter may be lowered into place somewhat behind its final positionand then moved inwardly to lock all of the blocks of the course inplace, and whereby the last block of the upper course may be loweredinto place somewhat behind its nal position and then moved inwardly tolock all of the blocks of its course in place, and means for lling upsaid recess.

7. In a hot top, a casing having small holes in its outer Asurface nearthe lower end thereof, a

bottom lining mounted on the lower end of the ends fitted into saidholes, said clips extending around the outer and lower sides of saidlining and having fingers resiliently engaging said sockets.

9. In a hot top, a casing, a bottom uning mounted on the lower end ofsaid casing, said 1ining being formed with sockets on its inner surface,said casing having holes in its outer surface near the lower endthereof, and spring wire clips having angular ends fitted into saidholes, each of said clips extending around the outer and lower sides ofsaid lining and upwardly for a short distance along the inner surfacethereof, said clip having a reverse bend in that portion which engagesthe lower surface of the lining, and having a ilnger resilientlyengaging one of said sockets.

10. In a hot top, a casing member, a bottom lining member, and springwire clips clamping the lining to the casing, one of said members havingholes therein and the other having sockets therein, and each of saidclips having an -angular end iitted within one of said holes and havinga finger at its opposite end resiliently engaging one of said sockets.

l1. In a hot top, a metal casing member having an internal ledge, aseries of upwardly tapered lining blocks with inwardly beveled sideedges mounted in said casing and supported upon said ledge, said casinghaving in its inner wall a recess of a size sufliclent to receive one ofsaid blocks somewhat behind the final position of the block, meansinserted into said recess behind the block to crowd the latter forwardinto position, whereby all of the lining blocks are locked in place, a

bottom lining member covering the surface of said ledge which is exposedwhen said rst named' lining blocks are in position, and spring wireclips clamping the bottom lining member to the casing member, one otsaid members having holes therein .and the other having sockets therein,and each of said clips having an angular end tted within one of saidholes and having a finger at its opposite end resiliently engaging oneof said sockets.

WALTER M. CHARMAN.

GUSTAVE A. PETERSON.`

